


Hearts Entwined

by kayura_sanada



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Bonds, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Paopu Fruit (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayura_sanada/pseuds/kayura_sanada
Summary: When they’d been very, very young, Sora and Riku had shared a paopu fruit. Sora just couldn’t remember.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57





	Hearts Entwined

When Riku had been just four years old, his best friend had run up to his home at roughly five o’clock in the morning, banged on the door, looked into Riku’s sleep-glazed eyes and said, “let’s share a paopu!”

Sora had demanded Riku’s dad take them over to their tiny island, where he’d raced over to the paopu tree and nearly drowned himself falling off trying to reach the fruit. Riku’s dad saved Sora, then grabbed the fruit himself when it became clear Sora was not going to give up.

That morning, before the sun had even managed to lift from the edge of the water, Riku and Sora swore to always be together, and sealed the promise with a bite.

* * *

Sora didn’t remember. He’d been very young, his father had explained, but Riku didn’t think that was a good excuse. How could paopu fruits symbolize anything when half the party didn’t even remember the promise?

“Sora,” Riku said, tossing Sora the paopu fruit he’d picked. He’d argued with himself even as he’d climbed the tree to grab it. He didn’t think he believed in it, not really. And even if he did, they’d already shared one. Whether Sora liked it or not, they’d shared a paopu already, so if there truly was such a thing as a spell or something, they’d already fulfilled the contract. Which meant it was all about what Riku really wanted. And that, he already knew.

Paopu or not, magical destiny or not, Riku knew he and Sora would be together. Wherever he went, he intended to have Sora by his side.

What mattered was whether Sora wanted the same.

If Sora remembered sharing the paopu with him, that question would have been null and void. The act of remembering would have been good enough, so long as Sora didn’t outright state that he regretted the action.

But Sora, in forgetting, had thrown suspicion on the entire thing. Yes, Sora was going with him, but was he intending to stay by Riku’s side, or did he simply want to go out on his own adventures? Did he simply see Riku as a stepping stone to his own ambition? Would Riku be replaced?

That thought banged around in his head just about the same way the paopu fruit fumbled within Sora’s grasp. “You wanted one, didn’t you?” he said, gesturing to the thing as if it hardly mattered.

“A paopu fruit?”

Why was he doing this? He hurried down the walkway, passing Sora before he could see the scowl marring the smirk Riku had tried to make. “Come on,” he said, “I know you want to try it.”

“What are you talking–”

Riku ran. He didn’t need the proof that Sora didn’t care about the legend and didn’t remember the promise. It wasn’t news. Though he supposed he should be grateful. At least Sora hadn’t talked about wanting to share it with Kairi. Maybe he would test that later. Bring up the idea of sharing it with Kairi and see how Sora responded.

But _why?_ Why did he want to hurt himself? He knew how it would end. Nothing he did would make Sora remember, and nothing he said would make Sora want to try again. Not that he _had_ to, Riku reminded himself. Who needed some legend, anyway?

Still. He was hurt when Sora threw it away. The only consolation was how Sora raced after him, keeping Riku in his sight.

* * *

Riku reached out his hand for Sora.

Sure, Kairi would be coming, too, but she wasn’t as important as himself and Sora. The fact that Sora, though oddly scared and unnerved, still stayed with him instead of running for his lady love was proof of that.

But even as Sora stretched out his own hand, Sora failed to grab him. Despite being right in front of him, Sora’s hand couldn’t reach. Why? And why was he so desperate? They were finally heading out, starting their adventure – what was wrong with him?

The darkness swallowed him until he couldn’t see Sora anymore. For the first time since calling on it, he felt afraid. Not of the darkness. Not even, he told himself, of being alone. But of being alone _without Sora._

The darkness disappeared, leaving only a sense of vertigo where it dissipated. He snapped open his eyes and looked around.

The air, though wet like the islands, was cool against his skin. Instead of sand and shores, he stood within a rocky valley, on top of one of many _floating stones_ , and water waded calmly below. It was amazing. There was even a giant purple castle before him, with spires that stretched up into the sky.

He looked around. There was no sign of Sora.

“Sora?” He looked around. Nothing. Below? No. Above? Ridiculous. He hopped onto another boulder. “Sora!” He screamed for him, again and again, but he never got any response. Just as he’d feared, the paopu fruit was only a legend. Sora wasn’t there.

Days later, the woman who’d locked him up in her castle proclaimed that Sora wasn’t in her world. It was official. They’d been separated. Wherever Sora was, he was lost and alone.

* * *

Sora was, unsurprisingly, ecstatic when Riku finally found him again.

He’d arrived in yet another new world, the wonders lost on him as he feared yet another dead end. This was a place where those almost lost ended up, washed up on the shores like so much flotsam. After traveling through the town for hours and finding nothing, he’d nearly given up hope. Only rumors of a wizard of some sort had remained, and at that point, Riku had been hoping only for a new lead.

To see Sora, finally, _finally_ , after enduring Maleficent’s so-called hospitality, after listening to her talk of Sora as if she knew him, saying Sora had left him behind, chasing adventure – as if she could somehow read his worst fears – to finally find him! And yet, the moment he did, it was to find him surrounded, fighting the heartless Maleficent herself commanded. Even though she had told him that she would send them out, would give Riku the opportunity to be Sora’s hero – once again seeing more than Riku had intended, more than perhaps even Riku had known – he found himself filled with a dark, black rage. He cut down the heartless about to hurt Sora from behind as if he was ridding the world of an unwanted pest. Sora’s reaction, his gasp of shock, his wide grin, had made the rage disappear – at first.

Then he saw the other two. The duck and the… dog, maybe? Sora started bickering with the duck the way he used to bicker with Riku, and suddenly, it was all too much. He ran.

Keyblade wielder? What did that mean? That Sora didn’t need him anymore? Why was he even arguing about whether Riku could go on the duck’s stupid ship when they could just travel around together, without the duck or the dog? How many worlds had Sora happily explored while Riku had struggled to gain his freedom and go find him? Had Sora even bothered looking for him?

Maleficent came to his side as he struggled to breathe, and he couldn’t help but notice that she had nothing to say. Letting the moment sink in. “It isn’t like that,” Riku said, answering an unspoken accusation. Instead of arguing further, Maleficent merely wrapped her arm around his shoulders and turned him down the town’s streets. “It’s not. I must have…” Misunderstood. Panicked.

Sora had wanted to share that paopu fruit. Even if he’d forgotten…

“He has not chased after you,” Maleficent said. Her words struck him like a blow.

She led him to a house. Through the window, Riku could see Sora. He was surrounded by others, including a tall man with long brown hair, to whom Sora spoke animatedly. Indeed, he wasn’t even searching for Riku, even though he’d disappeared only minutes before. Just like that, Sora was over him. His chest froze until he could hardly breathe. “You see?” Maleficent said. “It’s just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions.” Any sympathy in her voice was fake, he knew that. Her words, however, were nothing but the truth.

Riku glared at the picture behind the glass. Fine. Who needed old promises? So Sora had moved on from him. Riku could do the same.

From now on, the promises they’d made were nothing more than a part of his past.

* * *

The curse of the paopu fruit – for that was what it had to be – brought Sora to Monstro, then to the pirate ship. No matter where Riku went, Sora would always follow after, pulled along by the tether of their past. Sora was like a shadow, never allowing Riku rest from the mistakes he’d made – the mistake of believing in friends, in promises. In love.

He sent Sora a shadow of his own and hoped for rest.

* * *

Again. Sora showed up before him _again_ , this time reaching the world that had met Riku when he’d first stepped from Destiny Islands’ shores. Riku went out to meet him only when he heard Maleficent send order to have the intruders ‘dealt with.’ “Please,” he said, waving Maleficent off and trying to hide the odd feeling of panic in his chest. “Sora’s no threat. I’ll take care of him.”

And he did. It was easy, almost too easy, to take away the lie that was Sora’s independence. He saw Sora fall to his knees in defeat and felt vindication. Sora should have chosen him the way Riku had chosen Sora. Especially, he saw, when Sora’s new so-called friends turned their backs on him the instant Sora wasn’t useful anymore.

Riku never would have done that. Riku would have stayed, if only Sora had wanted him to.

But that was the past. The future was his – his, with his newfound keyblade, and Kairi’s, whom he could save. Kairi, who would see everything Riku had done for her, who would, unlike Sora, recognize everything he’d sacrificed to help her. Who would stay.

That was all he needed now.

* * *

Riku stared at his hand, his eyes wide. The keyblade had abandoned him. Sora, standing once more against him, had regained his friends. Even _weapons_ chose to be with someone else rather than with him.

He clenched his hand into a fist. Fine. He didn’t need the keyblade, just like he didn’t need Sora. He was perfectly capable on his own.

All he needed was himself. At least he couldn’t let himself down.

* * *

“Plunge deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger.” Desperate and alone, Riku listened, heedless and uncaring of the unknown person speaking to him from beneath the tan hood. He didn’t question the voice, the silken-honey tone of it or the hungry feel of the darkness on his skin, in his nose. All he knew was that he had failed, over and over again, and soon everything was going to be taken from him. Without the keyblade, he wouldn’t be able to awaken Kairi. Only Sora could do that now. Which meant Kairi would go with Sora. The only one who would be left alone would be him. Unwanted, unneeded, undeserving Riku. So unnecessary even people who vowed to be with him forever forgot their promise.

When the voice offered more power, Riku reached out to it with both hands. Anything was better than being alone.

* * *

He watched as if from a great distance as he spoke of Kairi as if she was some sort of commodity, as he spoke of retrieving her heart from Sora – so she’d been with him all this time; he’d been alone _all this time,_ and the only one who hadn’t known had been him – as if she wasn’t his last hope. As if she didn’t matter.

Riku fought. Well, _his body_ fought. Whoever had granted him darkness had also taken control. Riku had never thought to move his body the way this ‘Ansem’ guy did. He couldn’t believe the power in his swings, the darkness at his command. Yet Sora managed to dodge, using moves and abilities Riku had never seen from him before. Suddenly he wondered what all he’d missed. How far was Sora now from his reach?

Sora, now that Riku could just _watch_ , had grown. Beyond him, and beyond their island. For all that Riku had wanted to escape, he’d spent his entire time on other worlds trying to reclaim what he’d lost that day he’d turned his back on his home.

Sora defeated him. It was almost inevitable. Riku gave into it, into the fact that he, for whatever reason, had ended up alone. From now on, Sora could protect Kairi. Sora was strong enough; neither of them needed him anymore.

His mind was thinking that exact thing, watching Sora from the darkness he swam in, when Sora picked up the keyblade Ansem had wielded and–

“No!”

He pushed against the walls of his prison as Sora _stabbed_ himself, dooming his heart to darkness. Riku pounded against his cage as Ansem chuckled. Sora disappeared in a sparkle of light.

Riku couldn’t breathe.

Then Ansem’s attention turned to Kairi. His mind had floundered, his heart had become lead. But he fought. He fought against the beast he’d allowed into his heart, and he saved the last friend he had left, just in time for Ansem to grow weary of his struggles and send Riku into darkness, as well.

That was fine. It was perfect. Because Sora was in the darkness, too. The paopu fruit had kept its promise. Riku wouldn’t have to continue in a world where he’d gotten Sora killed. They would meet, somewhere in that darkness. He was sure of it.

* * *

The most surprising part of falling into darkness had been the waking up.

Nothing but blackness surrounded him, his feet plodding along an endless string of land. He’d been fumbling his balance just before being greeted by an unknown voice, a person calling for him from within the emptiness all around him. He’d panicked, remembering what he’d done, what – what had _happened_. The more the voice talked about darkness, hearts, and fate, the more worried Riku became. “You seem to know everything, don’t you? Then tell me.” His fists clenched. “Are Sora and Kairi okay?”

“Don’t you feel the echoes of their hearts?”

The echoes…? But he was desperate. He closed his eyes and tried.

It was almost as if he could feel something within him. A bright, warm light, running toward him. He touched his chest, just above his heart. He could feel Sora. Whatever had happened, Riku actually _could_ tell that Sora was still safe. He couldn’t, however, feel Kairi. Were their hearts not close enough? Or… could it be…

He sucked in a breath, surprised to find that, while he cared, it didn’t erase the all-comsuming rush of relief that hit him. Sora was _alive_. He was _safe_. Riku could _feel_ him.

That was what mattered.

* * *

He ran. He ran, the teeth of darkness nipping at his heels. Ahead of him, he could see a sliver of light. Beyond that, he could hear the sound of Sora’s voice, urging whoever was with him to keep trying to push the huge door shut.

If anyone asked, he couldn’t say how he’d gotten here, or even where ‘here’ was. He’d simply followed the feeling of Sora he’d felt inside his heart. He out of anyone was likely the most surprised to see that it had worked. He ran past the heartless reaching for him and wrapped a hand over the lip of the door. “Come on, Sora!” He looked out, seeing Sora turn to him, seeing those bright blue eyes widen as he took in Riku’s presence. “Together,” Riku said, “we can do it!”

For his sins, Sora didn’t question or doubt him. Instead that bright face went stubborn, in that way it always had when he’d refused to accept that Riku had beaten him. The familiarity of it momentarily took his breath away. Then Sora pushed, and Riku pulled. No more words were needed. Sora needed this door closed – and it had to be because of the darkness and the heartless roiling within it – so they were going to close it. Riku didn’t have to think about it any further than that.

He was being locked in with the heartless, but that was the price he paid – the price he was willing to pay – to ensure Sora made it through whatever was happening. At least Sora was alive. At least Riku had gotten to see him again.

He’d said he couldn’t rest until he’d seen Sora and Kairi again. He wasn’t surprised to find that only half of that had needed to be granted. That connection he’d felt that had led him to this place might not have had anything to do with the paopu he and Sora had once shared, but it had done the same the fruit had promised. It was more than he’d thought to receive. More, perhaps, than he even deserved.

“Take care of her,” Riku said, and smiled. He’d lost his chance to be by Sora’s side, but at least Sora was going to be all right.

* * *

When next he opened his eyes to darkness, it was to another new voice. He didn’t like this one; it tasted darker, sounded crueler. But it offered him a way out, and a way out meant a way forward.

And that could lead him to Sora.

* * *

The darkness he’d allowed into his heart – the man known as Ansem – was a curse he’d brought upon himself. He traversed room after room, floor after floor, world after world – hunting down a darkness that had no end. Hunting down some way to defeat it, hoping in vain for a chance to make it right, to purge himself enough that maybe, just maybe, he could face Sora again with his head held high.

But in here, as in everywhere else, the darkness was all that greeted him.

* * *

“Sora’s here?!” Riku said, the words bursting from his tongue before he could stop them.

Sora was somewhere in this place, being chased by these people? What had happened while Riku had floated, powerless? What was Sora doing?

Somehow, through the power of citrus or hearts or just dumb luck, Riku was close to Sora. Even though he’d thought Sora to be back in Destiny Islands, he’d ended up here. It was almost enough to make him believe.

* * *

“ _Sora!”_

He ran forward. Always, always running, he thought, looking at Sora as he hung suspended in a glass cage. Never making it in time.

A girl in white watched him as he approached. He touched the glass cage, but Sora did not react. His eyes were closed.

He had made it back to Sora’s side, just as the legend had promised. He was so close, he could almost touch. Almost. But not quite.

Perhaps the legend of the paopu was actually a curse.

* * *

How long had he stood vigil by Sora’s unwaking side? How many days, weeks, months passed him, watching for even the slightest movement from his dearest friend?

Before he knew it, he had to push his hair out of his eyes in order to stare into his friend’s face. Without realizing it, he’d stopped having to look up to see Sora’s sleeping countenance. He’d grown. And Sora, suspended, had remained the same.

He was starting to forget what Sora’s smile looked like. Instead, on repeat, was the look of loss and dismay as Riku had taken everything from him, leaving him alone. Leaving him to make that false grin when he’d taken up Riku’s keyblade and put it to his chest.

“Sora,” he murmured, touching the cool glass, “if you don’t wake up, how am I ever going to apologize to you?”

* * *

The legend of the paopu had to be true. How else could he explain how Sora’s nobody had ended up on that same street as him, as if chasing down some unbreakable thread?

Riku felt good about it – up until he found himself unable to bring Roxas in with the meager power he’d accrued without the darkness. In ensuring Sora’s return, he also consigned himself to the darkness and the shadows, never to walk in the light by Sora’s side again.

* * *

When Riku made a real effort, it became surprisingly easy to remain close to Sora. He was, after all, highly predictable. And the feeling of connection never dissipated, even after what he’d become.

Leading Sora to where he needed to go was almost fun. Like when they’d been young and he’d run around the island, Sora chasing him and yelling at him to wait up. Back then, Sora had remembered the promise they’d made to each other. Back then, the magic of the paopu fruit was of paramount importance.

Now, all Riku cared about was doing things right. He and Sora didn’t need to be together. He’d learned the hard way – it was better to be alone and have Sora safe than for him to ever have to watch helplessly as Sora disappeared from existence again.

* * *

“ _Riku.”_ Sora’s heart infused his voice. Two trembling hands wrapped around Riku’s own. “It’s Riku. Riku’s here.” Sora fell to his knees, still holding tight to his hand. Even as Riku grimaced at his failure to deny Kairi the reunion she’d sought, he found himself giving in to the tears pouring down Sora’s face. “I looked for you.”

“Come on, Sora. You’ve got to pull it together.”

“I looked everywhere for you!” Perhaps legends and fruits didn’t matter. Perhaps all that truly mattered were the bonds between people – and in that way, he and Sora could never be separated.

He covered Sora’s hands with his own and gave up. He should have known. He could never win against Sora.

* * *

Their bond had carried them through worlds, through dreams. Sora’s dive after Kairi’s heart would not divide them.

The edges of Sora’s heart led to Riku, and Riku’s to Sora. If he dove down, he would find Sora on the other side.

It was inevitable. Like a legend. Like a promise.


End file.
